DETROIT, MI- A unique New York-based coffee company is bringing its one-of-a-kind roasting expertise to Detroit.

Roasting Plant Inc., which operates two coffeehouses in the Big Apple, plans to open a store this fall inside the First National Building, 660 Woodward Ave. in downtown Detroit, officials announced today.

Roasting Plant’s main goal is to deliver customers the freshest coffee they’ve ever had by using its U.S. patented “Javabot” automated technology, according to Mike Caswell, Roasting Plant CEO and founder.

“Ultimately, Javabot is an in-store, automated production setting for an amazing cup of coffee,” Caswell, an engineer and former director of profit improvement for a certain Seattle-based coffee goliath, told MLive.com. “It just happens to be one the customer can see, engage with, hear, participate in and enjoy the fruits of its labor when it is done.”

Following an ongoing, on-site roasting process, each cup of coffee -- whether it is a cappuccino, latte or other coffee-based beverage -- is custom brewed on-demand.

Within one minute of ordering, coffee beans travel overhead in pneumatic tubes that connect the storage bins to each other as well as to the “micro-roaster” and automated grinding-brewing machines (video embedded above) before brewing directly into a customer’s cup.

View full sizeCourtesy imageWithin one minute of ordering, coffee beans travel overhead in pneumatic tubes that connect the storage bins to each other as well as to the âÂÂmicro-roasterâÂÂ and automated grinding-brewing machines (video embedded above) before brewing directly into a customerâÂÂs cup.

Customers can combine up to three of Roasting Plant’s 11 daily choices of coffee beans, which are from around the world, and then watch the Willy Wonka-esk Javabot system create their drink.

“One of the biggest surprises for customers when they get our cup of coffee is that it comes with a head of prima on it, which is a very unusual look,” Caswell said. “And they find the coffee is very smooth and flavorful. It’s not bitter like what most consumers are used to tasting in other coffee shops.”

Elizabeth Rose, Roasting Plant director, said a year ago Detroit wasn’t even a thought for expansion, but a friend showed a video of the company’s process to Gilbert, who called for her to come to Detroit.

“You don’t have to be tech-savvy to enjoy your Roasted Plant coffee -- you simply order it,” said Rose, who grew up in Metro Detroit. “But I think it’s really going to wow people here, and I think the (downtown business community is) the right audience for us.”

Rose, whose father actually had an office in the First Federal Building, described the process of bringing a store to Detroit as “an amazing full-circle story.”

The new 1,366-square-foot coffeehouse is expected to employ 10 people. Rose said the company could add more employees and stores in the future.

View full sizeMike Russell | Wikimedia CommonsThe First National Bank in downtown Detroit.

“We’re certainly coming in with the notion that if we’re received in the way we think we will be … we would love the opportunity to bring Roasted Plant to many more spots in Michigan,” she said.

Matt Cullen, Rock Ventures president and CEO, said Roasting Plant’s choice to set up a new show in Motown adds to the growing reputation of Detroit being “a place to see and be seen.”

“Detroit offers a growing critical mass of young people who are looking for more retail, dining and entertainment options, as well as a great cup of coffee,” he said in a statement. “We’re excited that this unique coffee shop sees the opportunity here and is seizing it. ”

Since August 2010, more than 40 companies have moved to Detroit in a growing number of Rock Ventures-owned buildings throughout the city. Officials expect that number to continue to grow through this year.